A big chunk of Oklahoma remains Indian Territory — at least as far as criminal jurisdiction runs. From CNBC: The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a huge swath of Oklahoma is Native American land for certain purposes, siding with a Native American man who had challenged his rape conviction by state authorities in the territory. The 5-4 … [Read more...] about Oklahoma Wind

Charlie Daniels has died of a stroke at 83. Two giants down in a day. Damn. The men who crafted the aural landscape of my youth are falling fast. Charlie was a Southerner to the core, but he was also a lover of the Old West, and the most fitting tribute I can think to serve up is his scorching guitar-fest epic Billy the Kid off of High Lonesome. … [Read more...] about A Long Haired Country Boy Has Gone Up The Trail

  He closed his eyes in the shade, with the scent of roses in his throat, and let the music roll through his soul, a saraband which caressed the face of death as lovers caress the face of their beloved. The darker instrument overwhelmed his senses with waves of ecstatic melancholy, in one moment brutal with exaltation, as delicate as … [Read more...] about Ennio Morricone And The Landscape Of The Imagination

This is why I love doing what we do at Frontier Partisans. It really is a campfire, around which kindred spirits gather and swap yarns and chew the fat. David Wrolson and Ugly Hombre had a conversation about The Wild Bunch (overdue for a re-watch) that hinged around a book that the Breaker of Book Budgets is forcing me to buy. Yeah, that … [Read more...] about El Indio — The Most Interesting Man In The World

If I could roll back the years Back when I was young and limber Loose as ashes in the wind I had no irons in the fire... — Ian Tyson, 50 Years Ago Irons in the fire? I got me some. We’re going to set out into some new territory here at Frontier Partisans. Look for a major announcement sometime in the next few days... * Corb Lund’s … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — July 2020 — Irons In The Fire

Craig Rullman and Sam Pyke have released the teaser trailer for their documentary on Len Babb — buckaroo, saddlemaker and Western artist. This is going to be the kind of quality film that Len deserves, and a document of a way of life that has profound depth and value. View the trailer here. If you are so moved, you can contribute to the … [Read more...] about ‘Romance Is A High-Headed Horse’

British General Lord Charles Cornwallis surrendered to Continental Army Commander General George Washington at Yorktown in October 1781. With the surrender that turned the world upside down, major combat operations in the eastern theater of the American Revolution were over. In the west, the war continued unabated. The year 1782 would bring the … [Read more...] about Firefight At Little Mountain — Estill’s Defeat

Timothy Brazzil scouted up a little hell-raisin’ music from the estimable folk music outfit Yazoo Records. As you all know, the music of the Old, Weird America is the heartbeat of Frontier Partisans. Love the cover photos on both Vol. I & II. Somehow these collections passed me by, a circumstance I will have to rectify. Listening to … [Read more...] about Rough And Rowdy

David Wrolson passed along the sad news that the great African wildlife and hunting history painter John Seerey-Lester has died of throat cancer at the age of 74. You seen his work on these pages, depicting scenes of historic hunts in Africa and North America. Karamojo Bell, Frederick Courteney Selous, Jim Corbett and most of all Theodore … [Read more...] about John Seerey-Lester Has Gone Up The Trail